A quick post today on some models I was able to quickly paint in a couple of evenings after work earlier this week. The half-dozen giant spiders from Shadowed Paths.

Now these might seem to be rather uncharacteristically painted for giant spiders, let alone ones based on Tolkien’s writings – and very much unlike the ones seen in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films, or most any depiction of the Spiders of Mirkwood, but I have good reason for this! Marouda is not at all fond of spiders as mentioned a couple of posts ago, and while I’m not a special fan either, these ones are just the exact correct size to be a really fucking big spider. Well, not like a Huntsman, but a large house spider or White-tail. Well, the wrong shape for a White-tail or Wolf Spider, but at a glance, enough to make you reach for a boot or block of wood. They’re actually close enough in shape for an Australian Garden Wolf Spider. If you’re an arachnophobe, you can skip those links. You’re welcome.

So anyway, the point being that if I want Marouda to be able to play a game involving these villains, then they can’t look at all like something we might see in real life, so I decided to go for a bright, tropical-looking colouration, somewhat inspired by a Redditor called Bellman and with enough yellow in them that they can still work well enough with the Spawn of Ungoliant. I primed black, zenithal spray grey, then white from above – then Contrast Aethermatic Blue all over except for the tops of the legs, the tops of the thorax and abdomen. Dropped a drop of Contrast Medium on top of the Thorax and Abdomen, and then went in with Citadel Technical Tessaract Glow, wet-blending into the Aethermatic blue around the edges. The links in this paragraph just go to models. Though they are of spiders, though not realistically painted ones.

Then coming back later to add some Tessaract Glow to the “knees”, and add some Contrast Kroxigor Scales to the tips of the legs as well as the underside of the body. Pretty great paint pot, as well. (look closely!) Eyes picked out with Contrast Blood Angels Red. For basing it was some AK texture paste, drybrushed with the usual and some tufts added.

So yeah, pretty luminous and not especially unrealistic, but they look pretty good for what they are – and more importantly – Marouda will be able to handle them being on the table, though she won’t be handling them, even with this particular scheme. The Spawn of Ungoliant, Beorn and Beravor provide scale comparison for these creepy crawly giant little bastards…